Villagers along Rio Hondo watch and wait
Hurricanes and tropical storms may be a fact of life in Belize, but how many times does a community have to be flooded out before its residents decide to move? That’s the question Jacqueline Woods asked the people of Douglas Village in the Orange Walk District as they watched the Rio Hondo rise higher and higher in the wake of Chantal.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The flood has become a way of life for the five hundred and sixty-nine residents of Douglas Village. The village, situated on flat terrain along the banks of the Rio Hondo, is no stranger to water. Ten months ago, following Hurricane Keith, the entire village had to be evacuated when the river rose rapidly, covering the land and houses. Today, the residents are on the alert, but for the moment are staying put in the hope that disaster can be averted.
Jacqueline Woods
“This is the Rio Hondo. For the past three days, the water has risen four feet. Villagers say if the rains continue their village will eventually flood.”
On Tuesday when the heavy rains, started some of the culverts at the entrance of the village could not hold all the water and some parts of Douglas quickly flooded. Laurio Alamilla, the chairman of the village, says his committee cleaned the drains and the water has receded. But with the river now rising, there is little villagers can do.
Jacqueline Woods
“We noticed that part of the football has already been covered.”
Laurio Alamilla, Chairman, Douglas Village
“Yes. From this morning, yesterday evening it began to, but from this morning it is almost half filled and covered.”
Some residents’ backyards are under water. Manuel Mazareigo says he does not expect the flood to be like last year when his house was completely submerged but believes the water will eventually reach his doorsteps.
Manuel Mazareigo, Resident
“This happen actually this morning. The water was over there by the big tree. All this is from this morning.”
Angel Blanco, Resident
“I think this river is going to grow or rise more because we have past experience with this river and in my opinion we will have to evacuate.”
Angel Blanco, who has been monitoring the river and sending reports to the National Emergency Management Organisation, says if the rainfall continues he expects that villagers will need to move in the next three to four days.
Angel Blanco
“Well it’s rising a little fast. Right now the meter is not reading too fast because the water is spreading all around.”
Laurio Alamilla
“If the water comes fast, we have to move fast. If it moves slow, we have to don’t have to move fast because we the watch the rest of the water.”
Alamilla says while it may look as if they are not really concerned, they are closely monitoring situation and he has already secured a shelter in San Pablo village if the need arises for them to move. Despite the threat of an evacuation, the residents continue to live as normal a life as possible.
Lauiro Alamilla
“We are just praying to God that… It’s hard to pack up and come out. It’s not like our home when we go in the shelter and it’s different because sometimes you have to sleep on the ground and you have to leave your things, you lost your things.”
Twenty-one years ago, to escape from the floods, over a hundred families moved out of Douglas and settled two miles away in area that was later named San Juan. Today, Alamilla believes his villagers would be ready to follow in their footsteps, but they would need help from the government.
Laurio Alamilla
“If the government help a little bit to try to get a next land more higher and help to start build the house, maybe we could come out of Douglas.”
Blanco says the villagers have already identified some land on higher ground about a mile out of the village, which would be an ideal place for them to relocate.
Angel Blanco
“Some of them are asking that another piece of land, because San Juan…What I have heard is that they don’t want Douglas people to go there now. To move from here we need money. The banks don’t want to lend a lot of money because we depend mainly on crop, the cane crop season and things like that. But right now the cane sugar prices is down. The banks don’t want to lend money to the cane farmers.”
However, not all the villagers want to permanently leave Douglas. Manuel Mazareigo says while he is aware that they may need to evacuate every year he would want to eventually return home.
Manuel Mazareigo
“Actually, I will call it like tradition. We are used to this, we live here, we born here. So I’m not going to another place to live. If next year this happens, I will still be here.”
Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.
Preliminary estimates of agricultural damage in the Corozal District as a result of Tropical Storm Chantal have been put at around four million dollars. This includes two million in papaya losses, one point five million in corn and three hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars worth of plantain. These figures are measured at farmers’ cost of production. More precise estimates will be made shortly by the Ministry of Agriculture.
